I'm going to just use this one thread for any questions I come upon when creating a theme. Yes I realize I've barely had the game installed for 12 hours and I'm already wanting to mod...that is just the way I am.

Question 1: Let's say I create a new race, and I want them to have far better than average relations with another particular species...I don't see any information for this so far in the customization guide. Is it going to be possible to have species A think that species B is the greatest thing since sliced bread?

Question 2: I notice that each race has 2 pictures, one without background and 1 with. Is it necessary for these to be the same alien pic just with the different backgrounds, or could you use two different .pngs for a little variety (like male and female for instance)?

ORIGINAL: Shark7 Question 2: I notice that each race has 2 pictures, one without background and 1 with. Is it necessary for these to be the same alien pic just with the different backgrounds, or could you use two different .pngs for a little variety (like male and female for instance)?

In the default install, the second race image (i.e. race_0a.png) is a special case that is used for displaying in the Speak screen (from Diplomacy, F2) and in the race selection for your empire in the Start New Game screen.

If this secondary race image does not exist, the game will simply use the default image (i.e. race_0.png). So you don't need two of them.

If you do choose to make two images, ensure that the main one (e.g. race_0.png) has a fully transparent background. Your secondary race image (e.g. race_0a.png) can be different if you wish - it will be used in the screens outlined above, overlaid on top of a landscape image of the race's native planet type. So it should have a background that is at least partially transparent.

ORIGINAL: Shark7 Question 2: I notice that each race has 2 pictures, one without background and 1 with. Is it necessary for these to be the same alien pic just with the different backgrounds, or could you use two different .pngs for a little variety (like male and female for instance)?

In the default install, the second race image (i.e. race_0a.png) is a special case that is used for displaying in the Speak screen (from Diplomacy, F2) and in the race selection for your empire in the Start New Game screen.

If this secondary race image does not exist, the game will simply use the default image (i.e. race_0.png). So you don't need two of them.

If you do choose to make two images, ensure that the main one (e.g. race_0.png) has a fully transparent background. Your secondary race image (e.g. race_0a.png) can be different if you wish - it will be used in the screens outlined above, overlaid on top of a landscape image of the race's native planet type. So it should have a background that is at least partially transparent.

Thanks for the response elliotg. So it seems I can have a little variety, though it won't show up often.